Differentiating Viewpoints
by ampersandy
Summary: Midway between Armada and Energon, three sentient and rebellious young Omnicons demand their freedom... and characters that disappeared in that timeframe are caught up in their lives... Updates with Chapter 3... Read and Review!
1. Hostage

Summary: Midway between Armada and Energon, three sentient and rebellious young Omnicons demand their freedom... and characters that disappeared in that timeframe are caught up in their lives...

The Sands of Time Cycle

Differentiating Viewpoints

Chapter One: Hostage

by: Brain Damage 101

Story Copyright 2005

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Transformers Armada, Energon, or any of the characters used herein, except for Slinger, Layshaft, Shatter, and other characters you don't immediately recognize.

WARNING: Involves several fan-characters.

* * *

They, unlike the Mini-cons, had never been granted any freedom. Intelligence, yes, because it was needed to mine for the unstable and fickle energon- but the ability to choose their futures for themselves? Never. The scientists who had created them to find and mine the energon that was the life-force of the Transformers had thought that to give them freedom would be to invite disaster, for how could they _force_ any sentient creature to do what they themselves chose not to? They were soon granted a name, although not much else.

…They were called the Omnicons, and most were happy with their lot- how could they not be?- but there were that select few that were not.

"Get searching already, you big lumbering idiots!" cried the overseer, sighing in exasperation. A Skyblast and a Strongarm unit shook themselves from their energon-saving status and traveled towards the recently discovered energon vein in the underbelly of the South American continent. They were followed by a slimmer Slinger unit, one of the first of its kind, and, in overseer Wringer's humble opinion, one of the stupidest yet. It carried all of the delicate machinery involved in finding the correct spot in the vein for extraction- you took from the wrong spot, you were a piece of scrap and the entire mine was destroyed in a big, fiery explosion.

The Slinger unit paused at the door and watched him for a moment, it's big gold optics covered by an opaque red visor. If Wringer was not gravely mistaken, the optics glowed for a moment before the unit moved along. As it receded from the room, Wringer shook his head and turned away- 'probably just a trick of the light'. Still, he couldn't help but worry- had not the Transformers found their origin in much the same way, from under cruel masters forcing _them_ to mine for energon?

The Slinger unit followed the other two Omnicons closely, for the only light in the cramped tunnel they traveled through was from the Strongarm unit's shoulder-mounted light system. After a few moments of traveling, the three joined the rest of the workers in the cavern where the vein had been discovered. As they moved, a shining piece of mineral residue, which was of little use to the Transformers, but extracted to satisfy the humans, was embedded in the cavern wall attracted the gaze of the Slinger unit, who stopped to look at itself. As the small light from the Strongarm unit flashed across it, the Omnicon shook it's head and walked on.

"What do you two think? These readings look good to you?" asked the Slinger unit, displaying the scanner hidden in its forearm.

The Skyblast unit leaned over and finally said, "Better to be safe than sorry, so let's move over where we know it's all right."

The Strongarm looked up, nodded, and began to travel over. The Slinger gathered some of the tunneling tools and scurried after, running a hand along the cavern wall as it did so. When they finally reached this 'safe' spot, the Strongarm unit quickly began to run the drill into the vein, working slowly and quietly. As the hum of the machinery became the only sound in the space, the Slinger looked over at its companion Skyblast unit and said, "Really wish we could do something a little less important, or at least have the right to choose what we do."

The Skyblast snorted and answered, "We're not s'possed to know we could be free, remember? We're just the worker drones. The _Omnicons_. What a load of slag. They just have us do their dirty work. Can you see Wringer down here, getting his hands all dirty? Didn't think so. So _we_ have to do it."

The Slinger crushed a rock it had picked up and said, "I _know_ that, 'Blast. But why isn't anybody _doing_ anything about it? Some of us have learned about fredom. They say we were never given it because they thought it would be disastrous, but the entire idea of having granting us what they _have_ is just as disastrous. It was bound to happen that we would speak up sooner or later, so why did they think they could get out of energon mining? Why not at least _explain_ to us why we are here? Most of us would do this anyway, for one reason or another. Mostly because it is our _function_. It's the Minicon fiasco all over again. I'm so sick of it!"

This was obviously an old argument. The Strongarm looked up and drawled, "Ya know, I agree with ya both, but could ya get yer afts over 'ere n' 'elp me out? I'm havin' a little trouble with keepin' the drill in place."

The Skyblast moved towards the piece of machinery faster than lightning and held onto it, joined a moment later by the Slinger unit. All three stood together for a moment before the Slinger said, "You know, I've figured out how we can get our freedom."

The Skyblast glanced at the Slinger and said, "What? By blowing ourselves up? What would that prove?"

The Slinger shook its head, grinning underneath the protective visor. "No," it said, "we hold this place for hostage and ask for our freedom. And amnesty, of course. It might even be fun. And who wants us to blow up? Certainly the humans don't, and definitely not Wringer. It'd _kill_ his reputation."

"Among other things!" Answered the Skyblast, almost doubling over in laughter. "Let's do it," it said, opening his communication channel. "Sling, you can do the honors, since it was your idea."

The Slinger nodded and said into its companion's communicator, "Attention, Wringer. This is Slinger Unit A-445. This mine is officially what the humans call 'under new management'. And if you don't agree to the new commanders of this little outpost, this entire place goes kaboom."

* * *

Well, the ending of my first chapter of my first fic in quite a while. Hope you stick around and keep reading when I put up chapter 2 either late this week or early next. Oh, and leave me a review, why don't ya? However, a warning that flames will be fed to Inferno. Cheers! ;) 


	2. Negotiations

AN: Much thanks to _Pivot_ for her review, here's the next chapter.

AN 2: If Sideswipe seems a bit OOC, I apologize profusely. I haven't written him in a while, so my memory may be bit off. The same goes for Redalert- one episode of Cybertron really didn't help. (READ: YAY! Red's back!)

A/n 3 (July 11th): Chapters One and Two have been re-uploaded after an editing-fest. I decided to change a few things, but the plot is still the same- some of my word choice was misunderstood. That's what I get for not re-checking a chapter I wrote a few months ago.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. I wish I did, but that's a whole different story. Well... okay, I have the dubious honor of owning Overseer Wringer and the three yet unnamed Omnicons...

Differentiating Viewpoints

Chapter Two: Negotiations

By Brain Damage 101

"--this entire place goes kaboom." rang out the feminine voice through the halls of the command center.

**_"WHAT!"_** rang out the voice of a certain overseer who sat at his desk.

Wringer paced in his office for a moment before an infinitely calm- yet, in the situation, utterly _terrifying_- voice flooded his radio. Wringer, please report to my office immediately.

"Y-yes, R-Redalert, s-sir..." stammered the overseer. Then he left his office at a dead sprint.

Redalert, CMO and project leader extraordinaire, was tired, as his aide Sideswipe would readily attest. When Redalert was tired enough, however, everyone suffered- _especially_ Sideswipe. Not that Redalert wouldn't feel sorry about it later, but... As it was, Redalert had had little to no time for such an unimportant thing as _recharge._ Instead, he was surviving from Energon cube to Energon cube as Sideswipe brought them. Signing yet another datapad, the medic-turned-outpost-commander stole a glance at his small blue secretary.

Sideswipe was keeping up a correspondence with the another young recruit, who had haplessly ended up on the other side of the Minicon dispute but was now working as a scientist. Just as Sideswipe sent off his latest communique, the door opened to admit the Omnicon overseer- a 'pompous pain in my tailpipe,' as Sideswipe had been known to comment in moments of frustration. The agitated mine commander rocketed off a salute at Redalert and stood at attention- the CMO sent him to a more casual stance with a nod, and motioned to the chair in front of the desk. Sit, please, he reassured the miner.

Wringer sat, and his optic band was slightly skittish as Redalert stood. Wringer... began Redalert, before gathering his train of thought firmly in hand. "Wringer, what do these Omnicons _want_?

Wringer opened his mouth to speak, and closed it again. He seriously considered the question for a moment before speaking, "freedom, sir. They want out."

Redalert nodded. "My sentiments exactly. As I've told Optimus many times, one of our biggest mistakes in creating the Omnicons was not giving them a choice in their futures. I'm sure that some of them were brilliant in ways we can't approach yet, but their unfortunate time of arrival kept them in the mines. Not that it's his fault, exactly, but I knew we never should have putsomeone with as dubious a history as Wraithin charge of the project... Well, that's neither here nor there. Though I wish we had thought to keep the Minicons away from them at all, what with their lack of complete restraint in keeping government secrets and all. Then again, I was against the Omnicons in the first place, so that just might be bitterness talking." Noticing he had lost his audience during this bitter little speech, he sighed and shut off his optical visor for a moment. After a moment, he reactivated his optical sensors and got to the point. "Why don't we give them what they want? The other Omnicons had little to no contact with them, so rebellion won't even cross _their_ mind, and if it makes these three happy..."

Wringer nodded after a moment and answered, "Yeah. They didn't bother with the mine channels, just the base ones- that was good, at least. But... but we can't just tell them they're free, and let them go. They'll be confused, at least at first, and if we're going to set them free, we might as well go all the way, right?"

Redalert smiled tightly beneath his facemask. He didn't assign stupid overseers.

"Exactly. So what would you suggest?"

"Reformatting. And amnesty, probably. Don't want them arrested every time they leave the base." Thus spoke up Sideswipe, looking up from his computer absently. Redalert nodded.

"Solution, then. Let them know, would you, Wringer?" He asked, a note of finality in his voice.

The terrified young miner nodded and ran off. Sideswipe rose and took the datapad Redalert had been holding from him. Then he pointed to the door. "Go. Bed. If you want to reformat them completely there needs to be some framework. And you're the only one good enough at it to do it. Now _go recharge._"

Hearing the logic in the words, and feeling the work of three days without sleep crashing down on his CPU, Redalert went to do as Sideswipe had ordered.

Wringer, as a rule, didn't get nervous. However, Wringer, also as a rule, didn't have problems like crazy rebellious Omnicons threatening his job security. It was all very trying, and Wringer decided that a vacation was in his best interests. After all this, of course. Didn't want to get Redalert mad.

As Wringer made his way to the mines, he consulted his comm-tracker and made his way down to the mineshaft. No one bothered him- his face spoke volumes. When he reached the small shaft, his taller frame forced him into an undignified crouch where even the Strongarm unit could have walked comfortably.He came to the small cavern entirely by accident, and so he was just as surprised to see the errant Slinger unit as she was to see him. "AAAAH!" she squawked, freezing in alarm.

"Woah!" was the sound from her Skyblast comrade, who caught her when she jumped forcibly away from the overseer. Wringer held up his hands for peace, but the concealed weaponry under his elbow plating was _hardly_ reassuring.

"Is it just y'all?" asked Strongarm, standing to his full height and with a note of menace to his voice.

Wringer lowered his arms and reassured them all, "Yeah. Just me." Then he steeled himself and continued, "the base commander, Redalert, sent me down here to tell you that you'll be given reformatting, freedom, and amnesty if you release the mines."

"Really? " shrieked the Slinger unit, dancing her air-worthy companion around the small cavern.

Wringer watched them nervously and cautioned them, "be-be careful!"

To his surprise, the three Omnicons shared a glance... and then began to laugh. This confused Wringer, and he informed them as much.

Strongarm grinned and drawled the answer. "There's no Energon in this... heheh... mine. Y'all were never in any danger!"

Wringer froze, and he could _hardly_ be blamed for what happened next- so much stress in such a tiny space of time did things to one. When he finished processing this latest scrap of information, his CPU decided it was time to reset. Normally Wringer had no problems with this, but when one wasn't in recharge, a reset caused status lock.

Thus it was that Wringer collapsed without a word.

* * *

Wringer activated his optics tentatively and made what he would soon call a big mistake- he sat up. Steadying his ringing head between his palms, he moaned piteously, and hoped for help. Help did indeed arrive, though Wringer would have said that help in the form of Slinger was really no help at all. The feminine Omnicon forced Wringer back onto the table, and settled in next to his bed with a sigh. He watched her for a moment from the corner of his optical visor, and she returned the weak smile he gave her.

Then he asked the burning question. "When?" 

"Soon. The CMO's still in recharge," she answered, knowing that he was asking when she would get reformatted. "How's your head?" she asked. 

"Better. How long was I out?" 

"A human day." 

"WHAT!" 

"I think you heard me the first time. You know, you really need to learn to calm down. Life's more fun that way " 

"Oh, shaddup." 

"...Sure. See you around, Wringer. Then she stood and left. Wringer watched her go, wrote off her behavior as nervousness, and abandoned consciousness altogether.

* * *

When Wringer woke 14 Terran hours later, there were three new patients in Medbay. He took a quiet moment to stop the world from spinning and went to examine them. The first was a tank- 'Strongarm, I assume,'- the next was an expensive-looking human sportscar- 'Skyblast. Though why he would give up his wings is beyond me,'- and the third was a thin feminine looking car with a dangerous set of missiles on either side of her head. 'Gee,' he thought to himself sarcastically, 'I wonder who _that_ could be...' Shaking his head silently, he didn't notice when the mech that used to be Slinger woke. 

"Wow... new alt mode " exclaimed the former Omnicon, sitting up and examining her red outer plating with wondering gold optics. 

"New? Ya got that right..." snorted the former flier as he examined his new doorwings. 

"Thus is gonna take some getting used to..." commented the third of the trine. 

"Hey, guys," threw out Sideswipe from his place by the door. Wringer and the three Omnicons turned to the blue Autobot suddenly. He grinned and stood, stretching in a manner that was so like the humans he dealt with daily that Wringer was surprised. "Feeling better?" This last was directed at Wringer, who nodded acquiescence. Then he turned to the three former miners with a grin. "Have we picked out names yet, guys?" 

"Slinger " answered the former Slinger unit. "There are so few Slinger units left that it's not going to be anything out of the ordinary. Besides," she continued with a distinctly feral grin and a nod towards the two missile racks, "I'm certainly _slinging_ quite a bit here..." 

"Very funny. And my new name's... Layshaft. I'm not certain why, but it seems good enough." This was an interjection from the former flier, who looked up from examining his plating to answer. 

"This new form is certainly powerful. So my new name is Shatter." This was from the former Strongarm unit, who was currently standing and leaning against the berth he had formerly occupied. 

"Okay " answered Sideswipe with a grin, and he took Slinger by the arm to lead her off to... something. Wringer wasn't sure he wanted to know. Layshaft and Shatter were _sure_ they didn't.

* * *

Thus ends the second chapter. Hope you're all having a great summer holiday, and that you drop me a review. They help, really! 


	3. Futures

A/N 1: Thank you muchly to TrueBornChaos, you stinking mind reader you. I had completely forgotten about that episode, as Arcee didn't mean much to me at that point, but you've come across a fact that will be important later on. Thank you for reminding me to make a note of that. Also, thankies to Pivot for a nice shiny review. I like reviews. steals back Shatter No! He's _mine_!

A/N 2: Edited chapters one and two, and I'm really sorry for the recent lack of updates. I'll be better about it, I promise!

The Sands of Time Cycle: Differentiating Viewpoints

Chapter Three: Futures

By Brain Damage 101

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except Slinger, Layshaft, Shatter, Wringer, and Wraith, who hasn't actually made an appearance yet. Oh, and Jetstorm. And this timeline. Though who wants it, I'm not sure.

* * *

Last time:

..."Have we picked out names yet, guys?"

"Slinger!" answered the former Slinger unit. "There are so few Slinger units left that it's not going to be anything out of the ordinary. Besides," she continued with a distinctly feral grin and a nod towards the two missile racks, "I'm certainly slinging quite a bit here..."

"Very funny. And my new name's... Layshaft. I'm not certain why, but it seems good enough." This was an interjection from the former flier, who looked up from examining his plating to answer.

"This new form is certainly powerful. So my new name is Shatter." This was from the former Strongarm unit, who was currently standing and leaning against the berth he had formerly occupied.

"Okay," answered Sideswipe with a grin, and he took Slinger by the arm to lead her off to... something. Wringer wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not. Layshaft and Shatter were _sure_ they didn't.

* * *

Unlike the Omnicon overseer Wringer and her trinemates Layshaft and Shatter, the newly reformatted Omnicon Slinger did, indeed, want to know where Sideswipe was taking her. She voiced her question as he dragged her along the hallways of Project HQ. "Side...swipe... WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME? Oh, no. Sideswipe, look out!"

As it was, Sideswipe had not 'looked out' and, in true Sideswipe form, had walked straight into the large Autobot known as Scavenger. Sideswipe yelled and, pulling Slinger with him, fell over. Slinger held her slightly dented cranial unit with one hand and hit Sideswipe upside his own with her free hand. Sideswipe mumbled an apology, which Slinger accepted with a grunt, and then she stood. She offered her friend a hand, and helped him up. Then she turned to look at Scavenger, who was laughing quietly at them.

This elicited a glare from Sideswipe. Then he mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Shut up, Scavenger, you old coot…"

Apparently Scavenger's hearing was just as acute as Slinger's, for he reached out and cuffed Sideswipe firmly about the head. Sideswipe sighed moodily, and then grabbed his companion by the elbow. She began to move as he then propelled her in their original direction- outside, unless Slinger's recollection of the small tour she had been given previously was failing her. Her memory was still accurate, however, as she and Sideswipe stepped out into the strange Brazilian sun. Sideswipe fell from one form to the next, and revved his engine as he waited for her on the road.

Slinger understood his unspoken challenge immediately and wasted no time transforming. For a moment, she simply sat and took in the new lines and contours of her body- because she had been a prototype in her first form, Red Alert had managed to keep most of the lines and contours of her robot mode the same. However, he had allowed her to choose the alternate mode, and her choice had been a flashy gold and red Plymouth Prowler, which was such a far cry from her former pickup truck alt that she felt strange in her armor for the first time in her existence.

Then she grinned inwardly and floored the gas pedal, whipping past the idling blue Ford Mustang that was Sideswipe with a challenging honk of her horn. He took off after her and pulled ahead with his own horn blaring. For the next few hours, the pair raced- sometimes Sideswipe leading, other times Slinger stealing the lead out from under his proverbial nose. Slinger had been in the lead for longer than a half hour when she noticed a small dirt road pulling off the main road. She followed it, hearing Sideswipe come behind her, and finally exited the jungle area onto a rock outcropping with a view of the rainforest beneath it.

Slinger fluidly shifted from one form to the next and settled down on the outcropping, one leg hanging over the rock and the other drawn up to her chest. Sideswipe stood behind her with the afternoon sun glinting off his blue optical visor for a moment before settling in next to his companion. They sat for a moment in silence before Slinger broke it. "Sideswipe," she began, "what are you going to do?"

"Do," he asked, "when?"

"Next," she answered, gesturing vaguely around her, "in your future, I guess. You're not cut out for the whole 'personal secretary' bit. You can't want to do paperwork for the rest of your life- even if, you know, this peace _lasts_."

Seriously, Sideswipe looked at her, whispering, "do you think it will, Sling?"

"I… I don't know," she confessed, looking away, "I mean, I want it to- of course- but while they were testing me back at the research facility, I researched the Minicon War thoroughly. I've heard about the peace treaties- the texts I read made a lot out of them- but the Autobots and Decepticons have been fighting for four million years. They've become _very _good at it."

"Yes they have," agreed Sideswipe quietly. Then he continued abruptly, "and what makes you think I don't want to keep my nice simple job, huh?"

"Not enough challenge- stagnancy in any form is unhealthy, even in a species as long-lived as the Transformers. Look at what four million years of constant- but actually stagnant, because no one gained or lost ground for most of it after the Minicons left- warfare have done to the state of Cybertron. And no, making sure Red Alert naps on time does not qualify as anything that breaks the monotony. Me, I want to explore, get out and see the big black void of space. I guess that's always what made us different."

"Us?"

"Layshaft, Shatter and I. We weren't originally paired together, you know. They requested a new Slinger unit after their last one complained of borderline insanity in both of them. So they assigned the most recent- and, might I say, the most adaptable, opinionated, and difficult- prototype from Wraith's labs to their team. That's when I discovered that I wasn't the only one who didn't want to spend my life mining. The three of us would argue with the others, who were firmly entrenched in how they thought things should be, and we didn't meet anyone like us until we met Jetstorm. He was one of out overseers, and he's actually the basis for the Skyblast units, only bigger. He told us that we were the smartest Omnicons he'd ever seen, and then explained counter arguments for the conservative slag we'd been fed since our sparking. Layshaft, Shatter, and I broke the mold for the Omnicons, because we wanted more than we'd been given. A lot more."

"Looks like you got it."

"Seems so," she paused for a moment, "Sideswipe- oh, never mind."

"Huh?"

"I said never- oh, ok, fine. Just… stop looking at me that way! Okay, so Sideswipe… how would you feel if I told you I wanted to ask Red Alert for the funding for a space exploration mission?"

"I'd say that you're going to get very little support at all. Space exploration is generally held as frivolous. And career suicide for anyone with ambition."

"Why?"

"Because it so often fails."

"Frivolous?"

"Well, alright… that depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On what you're looking for."

"On what you're… Sideswipe! Space exploration doesn't always have to have a specific goal in mind… does it?"

"It does in my experience."

"_That's_ extensive."

"Hey! Who here fought in the Minicon War?"

"And who here managed to get himself into so much trouble he had to be rescued by that big yellow idiot Hotshot several _thousand_ times? By the way, did you get an award for that many mistakes in a single campaign?"

"Leave Hotshot- and me!- alone. Besides, at the end of the war he wasn't yellow."

"But still a big idiot."

"I never said he wasn't. Anyway…so, okay, if you _were_ looking for something- hypothetically, of course- what would you be looking for?"

"An alternative to Cybertron, of course. Our world is so rapidly degenerating that the repair crews can't keep up, even with this period of peace. And it's not like we have enough resources to completely reform the planet- even with help from Earth- in the first place."

"That's true."

"So what should I do?"

"Go for it. What's the worst he can say?"

"Um… no?"

"But there's always that chance, no matter how slim."

"Right," she said, then stood and yelled, "transform!" She took off, leaving Sideswipe scrambling in her dust cloud.

"Slinger!"

* * *

Slinger and Sideswipe walked into the lounge together. Slinger attracted many glances and whispers as she walked past- not for her appearance, which was slightly dust-stained, or for any outstanding physical features, which clearly displayed that she was a worker plain and simple, but for the sheer newness she embodied. Sideswipe attracted a few glances and mutters, too, but that was just because he could be a little terrorist when it came to interrupting Red Alert's schedules and had physically removed several mechs out of the outpost commander's office several times. How exactly he did this was still a mystery, as he was one of the smallest and weakest mechs on base, but those who had undergone the treatment weren't talking.

"Hey, Sideswipe," said Slinger, idly tracing a line in the dust covered plating on her forearm with one finger, "do you know where I'm quartered?"

"Uh… yeah," answered Sideswipe, pulling a datapad from subspace and looking it over. "You're… on the third level, room 63," he said, glancing at her.

She nodded and answered, "thanks, Sideswipe," before turning and walking out the door. As she came to the elevator, she glanced inside and, finding only one other occupant- a blue and orange car Transformer, with small wings on the side of his head and a mask covering the bottom portion of his face- she stepped inside. Seeing that the button for level three was already highlighted, she settled against the circular wall to wait. Neither she nor her traveling companion spoke or looked at each other. When the elevator came to a stop, she started out first, and suddenly a low voice spoke, "name's Blurr. You need anything, let me know, okay kid?"

"S-Sure, Blurr. Thanks. I'm Slinger, in case you were wondering," she answered, glancing back and then at the numbers next to each room's door. When she came to 63, she stepped inside and glanced around- it only had a single recharge berth, but was connected to the next room by a slightly ajar doorway. Slinger glanced inside, spied Layshaft tracing lines on Shatter's chest, and shook her head with a chuckle. Then she turned to the cleaning unit and stepped inside. She pressed a few buttons- cleaning units were fairly standard- and smiled as first soap, then water, then hot air brushed over frame and washed the dirt away. She quietly removed her visor, which hid her gold optics, and pulled a buffer cloth from her subspace, then wiped out the cracks around her optics, which were very sensitive and tended to go on the fritz if she didn't regularly clean them. She ran the towel over the visor itself, the settled back onto her face.

She stepped out and saw the jar of wax almost immediately. Her expression one of rapture, she spent a while waxing her frame lovingly. _'I need to look impressive when I go talk to Red Alert,'_ she tried to convince herself, then gave up and admitted, _'besides, it's been so long since I've had a good wax. I've needed it.'_

When Slinger was finally satisfied with the status of her outer plating, she stood, examined herself in the thin mirror on the wall next to her. Then she straightened her shoulders and walked out to go talk to Red Alert.

* * *

Sideswipe was being difficult. He had removed himself from the active duty roster for that afternoon, but had put himself back on after Slinger's departure from the lounge. Now firmly entrenched in the outer office (the one where Wringer had almost suffered spark failure of embarrassment), he was keeping everyone away from the workaholic CMO. Everyone included Slinger, who was not happy about the fact.

"But, _Sideswipe!_"

"No."

"I spent an hour on my finish, Sideswipe! I need to go see him while I'm still _shiny!_"

"What is this, a date?"

"…"

"Sorry."

"Yeah! Ew!"

"I said sorry!"

"So can I go in now?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"…No, Sideswipe. I _don't_. Would you be so kind as to _schedule me for one?_"

"That's much better, now isn't it?"

"Whatever you say, O Secretary of Doom."

"…You know, I like the sound of that."

"You _would_- hey, are you _absolutely_ sure you weren't a Decepticon during the War?"

"Haven't you heard? Former Autobots are the most evil bureaucracy ever to _exist_. Must come from all that extra time on our hands."

"But aren't the Decepticons supposed to be evil?"

"They are…"

"They're just honest about it, then."

"Yup. Now... I can squeeze you in tomorrow…"

"_Don't_ push it, Sideswipe," she said dangerously.

"You got it. Well… I can get you in now, if you want."

"Oh, _thank you_, Sideswipe."

"No charge!"

"Thank Primus."

Shoving her blue-armored friend into his chair, Slinger stalked past Sideswipe and entered Red Alert's personal office, the one where he went when he wanted to be disturbed as little as possible. The blue-and-white CMO glanced up at her entrance and motioned towards on of the chairs in front of his desk. She ignored the command and instead stood ramrod straight, her face more serious than he had seen it so far.

She looked stiff, but gathered her wits and spoke. "Red Alert, sir," she began, "I just wanted yo know if you had any plans for Layshaft, Shatter, and I… any at all."

"I had been hoping the three of you would stay on as liaisons to the Omnicons for us. As you yourself have experienced, relations have been… minimal, at least," answered Red Alert as he placed his datapad on his desk and fixed her with a look. "Now, what are you really here for?" he asked.

"I was… here to ask you I-if you would be willing to bring a proposal to the Council for me. A proposal for a space exploration mission."

"Space explor- Slinger, that's not going to be very popular."

"I think it will have a better chance if someone as respected and… um… not unstable… as you were to bring it forward."

"That's true… why?"

"I… I've never been your average Omnicon. I'm not really a very good example of what one should be. Besides, someone malicious may bring my roots before the Council and try to discredit you or the others. I want to get out of here as soon as possible and avoid any trouble."

" 'My roots'? "

"Layshaft and Shatter are adaptable. More than me, at least."

"I see. Than answer… is no."

"N-_no!_"

"No."

* * *

Oooh- that must have hurt. Leave a review on your way out, please, and feel free to pick nits- I like sticking to canon as much as possible, which means I have to somehow work Red Alert back to Earth in time for Cybertron…Grr. Oh, once again, sorry for the lack of updates. I've been very busy with school starting up again and all the drama that comes along with it. 


End file.
